Kazakh ruling party wins all seats

Kazakhstan's ruling party Nur Otan has won a landslide victory in the country's parliamentary elections. With 88% of the vote, it secured all the available seats. None of the six opposition parties managed to cross a 7% threshold necessary for getting int

The country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev hails the result as a victory for the recent constitutional changes. Previous elections in Kazakhstan were seen as less than fair by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

On Sunday, it criticised the voting system for its lack of transparency but still called the election a step in the right direction. The early elections were called for by the country's parliament following constitutional changes that gave it more power. The new political system is meant to signal a greater commitment to democracy.

This day is going to go down in history. We have finally settled constitutional changes by electing the new parliament members according to the new Constitution and under the new terms,

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev

“The new political system gets its start today. I’m certain that the people of Kazakhstan have again chosen the way of peace, unity, prosperity and a better life for all citizens of our country,” Mr Nazarbayev stated.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev

But the Kazakhstan’s most popular opposition parties – the Ak Zhol party and the Nationwide Social Democratic Party – refused to recognize the preliminary results. Ak Zhol claims 12% of the vote, not the 3% according to the official figures.

Meantime, some observers say the election process has been held within the law.

“The fact that the president backed the Nur Otan party has probably played a part. 88 % of the vote – that’s high, even if it is according the preliminary results. There were absolutely no serious violations, only long lines at the ballot centres – some people couldn’t find their names on the lists. But these are technical details and the situation gets better with each election,” Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman, Vladimir Pekhtin, said.

The opposition says they will now submit the reports to the Central Election Committee and to the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office.